LGBT

Germany is dropping in its safety ranking

According to a recent ranking for gays and lesbians, Germany has become less secure.
Sweden, Canada and Portugal are the LGBT-friendliest travel destinations in the world. This is from the Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2019 of the Spartacus International Gay Guide. According to the editors, Portugal had risen to the top from 27th place in the previous year because of legal improvements for i.e. initiatives against hate crime.

In fourth place are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the French-speaking island of Reunion, Spain and Great Britain.

There is a measured increase of violence against homosexuals in Germany.

The Index informs travelers about the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in 197 countries and regions worldwide. It is divided into four categories, based on 14 criteria: general civil rights, discrimination and threats to LGBT people from persecution, imprisonment or death.

Germany, however, crashed heavily in the ranking: from third place to 23rd place. In Germany, there was an increase in violence against lesbians and gays, according to the superregional German gay lifestyle magazine "blu". There is also a lack of an action plan against homophobic violence and modern legislation on the rights of LGBT’s.

In 2016, one year after the unlawful opening of the European borders by Merkel and the EU, crimes against gays and lesbians erupted.

In 2018, the Berlin alone police registered more than 100 crimes against gays and lesbians during the first nine months of this year. Among them were 30 violent crimes and 75 other acts such as insults. Most of the acts were done, according to police figures, on streets in the districts where the homosexual scene is particularly visible, hence in Mitte, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Schöneberg. The suspects are therefore Germans and foreigners, but the proportion of people with a migrant background is higher than in the general population. LSVD (Lesbian and Gay organization Germany) Managing Director Jörg Steinert addressed another problem of attacks beyond criminal statistics: forced marriages of women and men, especially in Turkish and Arab families.

An index climber is India, which climbed from 104th place to 57th place for the decriminalization of homosexuality.

In addition to Somalia and Saudi Arabia, the index's backstops include countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Iran. In these countries, homosexuals are persecuted and threatened with death.

These are the most dangerous LGBT travel destinations according to the ranking:

Rank Country

190 Afghanistan

190 Libya

190 United Arab Emirates

192 Yemen

194 Iran

194 Saudi Arabia

196 Somalia

197 Chechenia

It is important to note, that all lowest ranking LGBT unfriendly countries are Islamic or dominated with such.

One of the reasons Germany is becoming more insecure for gays and lesbians is surely the misunderstood tolerance towards Islam and the open door policy, letting this 7^th century religion and ideology flood Europe. It is clear to observe, that there is basically no country that is dominated by Islam where to be homosexual is illegal, or at least stigmatized. The complete fantasy world of socialists, leftist and greens, that all people from any background can live happily and freely side by side is unveiled by and through the Islamic community.

John Lennon’s “Imagine” world, only works from the view of a western hippie, a world where Islam has not entered, or with all people from non-monotheistic dominated areas.

By Thomas Fleckner

Indonesia: Another case of religion poisons everything

On May 17 2017, we could read that a Sharia court in Indonesia’s Aceh province had sentenced two men for having gay sex. The court found, that for violating Islamic laws, each will receive 85 lashes. The couple was found in bed together. Aged 20 and 23, they were clearly adults and in a full age of consent. Yet in regards to sex, ad many other parts of Islam, adult humans are treated like children, or worse people without biology and right to decide about their life.

Although gay sex is not (yet) illegal in the rest of Indonesia, Aceh is the only province following strict Sharia laws. Aceh has become increasingly conservative in recent years. Strict laws against homosexuality were passed in 2014 and came into effect the following year.

According to the BBC article in the latter link: "The law is to safeguard human dignity. It is to protect Aceh's Muslims from committing immoral acts," provincial Sharia chief Syahrizal Abbas told the AFP news agency.

How can a consent natural fact even be immoral?! The only, if ever to use the term immoral act would be that of religions unnatural laws and regulations!

According to the AFP news agency, Judge Khairil Jamal told the court: The men had been "proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing gay sex."

The law covers the consumption, production and distribution of alcohol; gambling; adultery; extra-marital sex and homosexual acts.

Punishments include caning and imprisonment, but not stoning, as we can now find in the Asian country of Brunei.

Punishing members of the LGBT community is the real act against nature and kicks all aspects of Human Rights. Using a belief system, hence an unfounded mindset without reason, is the biggest crime committed against humanity since its existence; it is wounding nature in the name of a religion.

Islamic laws, again proves to be incompatible with the values of the free world, developing and democratic systems.

By Thomas Fleckner

In a male-dominated sporting landscape, it takes courage and uncannily huge audacity for a male athlete to come out in the open. It is unseemly much especially within the field that only men are exclusively allowed to indulge in. Disclosing one’s sexual identity poses threats and risks; while often majority will belittle his ability, others may see it a gutsy maneuver.

Last April 29, 2013, the basketball community encountered an incredibly courageous announcement emanating from a professional NBA player named “Jason Collins” after officially disclosing his sexual identity, making him the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay. Prior to this revelatory act is Collins’ rumination about flying out during the 2011 NBA player lockout, but since he lacked the distraction that basketball provided, he didn’t have much time and courage to do so.

“The strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable in March, when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for and against same-sex marriage. Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future,” Collins maintained.

This landmark announcement was feasted by the media and greeted by support from his fellow Americans. President Barack Obama praised the NBA center saying he was “very proud” of the athlete. ”I had a chance to talk to him yesterday. He seems like a terrific young man,” said Obama who strongly favors the legalization of same-sex marriage. “I told him I couldn’t be prouder… one of the extraordinary measures of progress that we’ve seen in this country has been the recognition that the LGBT community deserves full equality, not just partial equality. Not just tolerance, but a recognition that they’re fully a part of the American family.”

Some notable personalities who hovered on their Twitter accounts to congratulate Collins immediately after coming out include:

Kobe Bryant ✔ @kobebryant

Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support #mambaarmystandup #BYOU

Bill Clinton ✔ @billclinton

I’m proud to call Jason Collins a friend. http://wjcf.co/154piCi

Jim Rome ✔ @jimrome

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” Jason Collins makes history. Incredible respect for him.

Brendon Ayanbadejo ✔ @brendon310

By @jasoncollins34 opening doors & doing it his way on his time he has helped shape a more accepting America. May many more follow #courage

Several commentators and fellow athletes have also applauded Collins following the milestone disclosure of his sexual preference calling him a “trailblazer” for players still cinched in the bolted locker rooms, although he’s not the only athlete in the major pro sport to do so. “I certainly appreciate it, as a gay person. Any time you can have someone this high-profile come out, it’s just so helpful, particularly to young people. We’ve reached a tipping point,” said Billie Jean King, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

As previously stated, Jason Collins isn’t the only openly gay athlete in the sports community, another male athlete who came out gay is the major-league baseball player Glenn Burke who was comfortably out to his teammates and friends in 1976—but back then, it was the press that wasn’t ready to welcome a gay male athlete in the field.

What does psychology suggest as to why it’s essentially difficult for a male athlete to lay bare his sexual predilection?

Since 1975, the American Psychological Association has called on psychologists to pioneer in removing the social stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations. The discipline of psychology is concerned with the welfare of people and groups and therefore with threats to that well-being. The prejudice and discrimination that people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual regularly experience have been shown to have negative adverse psychological effects. This information is designed to provide accurate information for those who want to better understand sexual orientation and the impact of prejudice and discrimination on those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. [*]

In the present community, a person who is bigger, tougher, stronger, more courageous is conceived beforehand as someone who is able to perform better and is even someone that we should mimic and commend. While a few would decline the ideology that a homosexual possesses the aforementioned bodily attributes, they are fairly capable to be competitive individuals and incredibly stellar athletes. However, since we are in a puritan society in which Christians apologists and religious extremists are substantially scattered, this social norm seems to have drawn a negative diagram.

Homosexuality is universally defined as an enduring pattern of romantic and emotional attraction to same-sex, however, through time, discriminatory accounts against sexual orientations have interchangeably altered its definition and have broken the concept of the heterosexual–homosexual continuum due to historical claims which are somehow proven to have never existed. One strong assailant of homosexuality is the “bible” or what the devout Christians call “The Holy Bible”, although many have already been questioning its divinity.

Since time immemorial, the bible has been classified, in several denominations and forums, as a staunch “condemner” of homosexuality as based on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament book passages in Leviticus which has explicitly censured homosexual acts. Other bible critics maintain that the bible was not really referring to homosexuality but to “abusive sex”. In Religion Dispatches magazine, Candace Chellew-Hodge argues that the six or so verses that are often cited to condemn LGBT people are referring instead to “abusive sex”. She states that the Bible has no condemnation for “loving, committed, gay and lesbian relationships” and that Jesus was silent on the subject.

See what the extensive collection of Scripture has to say about same-sex union:

Leviticus 18:22 says, ”Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.”

It is, at least to me, transparent that bible is not euphemistically hinting about abusive sex as what Hodge’s hypothesis suggests otherwise since the bible, or the “good” book, is fraught with unsubtly blunt verses. (Refer to Ezekiel 23:20)

Leviticus 20:13
“If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.”

The succeeding verses can not be anymore absolute that your jesus is not really “silent” with respect to the subject.

So you see, even if a male athlete is encouraged to come out in the arena with a diametrical sexual preference, there are manifold literatures that are continuously being upheld by Christian fundamentalists and other limbs of the theocratic and puritanical society. Such factors can cause such a stressful issue toward a closet athlete. He desires to excel in sports and be lauded albeit his sexual orientation but because of innate fear to fly out, he often feels the need to lie. Most often than not, when a heterosexual member of a team discovered one of their team mates swings both ways, this causes a sense of perfidy. They actually feel “betrayed” by this new information. Again, we see evidence of the conditioning this society has placed upon us. The psychological effects of “living a lie” can be profound upon a person. He may look back on his life with regret and he may have a difficult time finding happiness.

Unless heterosexual couples start to surface and condemn homosexual union because it initially affects their marriage, then that’s the only time homosexuality can be considered sinful and socially unacceptable. But if you only base your arguments on a book that has long been debunked and disproven by Science, then there’s probably no seat for you to take.

By Aljohn de Leon

http://hotteapot.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/jason-collins-landmark-revelation-in-theological-arena/

The LGBT Quest for Equality Continues

It has already been a week since the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history took place in Orlando Florida in 12 June 2016, where 49 people died. The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities everywhere in the world are the most affected, particularly that the LGBT community in Orlando was the main target of the terrorist attacker who did the immoral act on behalf of his religion. The violence is a reminder that the LGBTs still has a long way to go in its quest for equality and total acceptance in the society. And one way to accomplish equality and acceptance is through an LGBT pride parade. And a few days from now, the LGBTs around the world will commemorate the first ever protests ever initiated by this marginalized sector. In 28 June 1969, the first ever protest took place in Stonewall Inn in New York to oppose the unfair treatment that the LGBTs received from the authorities that day. And every year since then, that event was being commemorated in a parade called Pride Parade.

In the Philippines, the LGBTs quite enjoy a more compassionate treatment from the society. In fact, the country is ranked as one of the most gay-friendly nations in the world. But despite that, the LGBTs in the Philippines are considered as one of the most marginalized sectors of society. The LGBTs often face disadvantages in getting hired for jobs, in acquiring rights for civil marriages and in obtaining other privileges.

The discrimination against the LGBTs goes within the boundaries of the law. There are a number of laws that may affect the LGBT communities in the Philippines in a negative way. The first one is the Article 200 of the Revised Penal code which considers the homosexual conduct of affection in public as an act of grave scandal. Another law is the Family Code of the Philippine where it states that Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman.

And so there are still a number of reasons why the LGBTs in the Philippines would need to fight for equality and non-discrimination. This is why the Filipino LGBTs also commemorate the Stonewall protests every year. The very first LGBT Pride Parade in the Philippines took place in 26 June 1994 and since then the parade is being organized at this same time every year. This year on 25 June 2016, the LGBT community of Metro Manila Philippines will gather in the country’s public national park Luneta to make a statement. On that day, we the LGBTs of the Philippines will assert that we deserve the right to exist without discrimination, violence and persecution.

By Roderick Tubil

The next step is accomplished, as of April 12, 2013, the France’s upper house Senate approved a landmark bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the country. With this step, France has pulled the former second class “civil unions” equal with heterosexual marriages. The law also includes the right of the same sex couples to adopt children.

This move is not only a milestone achievement for the LGBT community, but also for all the Atheists and Agnostics communities. Church, an institution to marry in, can more and more be confronted by millions of interrogations, as all monotheistic religions oppose homosexuality, direct or indirect, through their actions, verbalization and scriptures. Up until now, religions disposition themselves, by acting like a government, forgetting that their terms and conditions may only apply to their followers and members. The way religions have tried to force their beliefs unto non-members and non-believers even, is clearly starting to lose their authority and grip. We have reached the 21^st century, and more stronger, billions of years evolutionary development, and as peoples are more educated than before, with more possibilities of expressing opinions and laws backing different life styles, even the countries that are still following antiquated laws, can't stop the flow of information, especially through the world wide web. Fighting for rights has always been a time-consuming process especially in the context of humanity. Women Rights, LGBT Rights and Children Rights are natural, but man-made regulative and indoctrinating belief systems and regimes have made humans hide in the closet, or even killed millions of peoples not complying with the laws presented.

The past, our history, is something to learn from, and mistakes made, should not always be repeated. It is clear, that what people are challenged with, is not just the questioning of their beliefs, but the loss of “authority” and the bankruptcy of a wisely set-up tax-free business. Entire industries depend on the marketing system called religion.

We are in the time of global changes, with women and LGBT's standing stronger like never before. Yet the arise of Human Rights and Atheism alike breeds violent opposition. Systems and organizations, having felt strong security since hundreds of years can no longer make unfounded statements, unveiling their true face, by reacting with hate speeches, abusive discrimination, absurd arguments and physical violence.

Examples for such are:

On Thursday 4 April 2013, 300000 peoples protested in Paris against the equal marriage bill. Flags showing “Jobs, not gay marriage”, and peoples showing violent affection, forced the police to use lachrymatory agents. The protestants compared apples with pears, which was very unreasonable.

The France Chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, who is in fact facing court on charges of plagiarism and misleading of the public quoted: “Gay Rights supporters will use gay marriage as a Trojan horse in a campaign to deny sexual identity and erase sexual differences and undermine the heterosexual fundamentals of our society.”

This again shows unfounded words, shifting from reality, as same-sex marriage will never undermine heterosexuality and also not increase in number through this right. It just extends basic Human Rights to a too long time suppressed minority.

Pope Benedict XVI praised the quote of the Rabbi in December, aside from remarks in his Christmas speech saying that gay people are manipulating their sexual orientation to alter god-given nature, and that gays “deny their nature”.

This is a clear insult and denial of evolutionarily natural development and diversity.

Another attempt to twist the unreal divine laws into reality.

Another example is Frigide Barjot, a born-again catholic and comedian set up a rally against marriage equality called “Manif pour Tous”. Her real name is Virginie Tellene, and she stated reportedly in the Pink News: “This is a disgrace. The French people don’t want this law, and what do they do? They speed up its passage. Hollande wants blood, and he will get it.”

“We live in a dictatorship,” she added. “The President of the Republic has guillotined us.”

Adrian Tippetts, a journalist and Human Right activist stated in PinkNews:

“The Vatican works with Islamic and African nations to undermine resolutions condemning the criminalization of homosexuality; the Catholic Church in Uganda actively called on the government to pass the notorious ‘kill the gays’ bill. Pope Benedict even blessed the speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, a clear endorsement of the draconian bill that would imprison even relatives who refuse to inform on gay family members.”

Violence against LGBT, be it verbal or physical, is obviously an action from organisations and individuals basing their life on a single religious book. Humanity and nature, in its natural way, are disregarded, but as humane and educated peoples, majorities shift from supporting unfounded claims, to reality-based and universal love for the colors of the human race, although in France the conservative opposition party and the church had mobilized major demonstrations on the 13th of January and the 24th of March against gay marriage. Hundreds of thousands of people in Paris stood on the streets to take a stand against the gay marriage. In March there were even 1.4 million participants according to the organizers.

Where are we now:

The Netherlands was the first country to introduce marriage equality on the 1st of April 2001, including now the BES islands Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba since the 10^th of October 2012.
Belgium was the second country to legalize same-sex marriage on the 1st of June 2003, followed by Spain on the 3rd of July 2005. The following 7 years more countries joined:
Canada on 20 July 2005; South Africa on 30 November 2006; Norway on the 1st January 2009; Sweden on the 1st May 2009; Portugal on the 5^th of June 2010 (but in Portugal still the joint adoption of children remain prohibited); Iceland on the 27^th of June 2010; Argentina on the 22^nd of July 2010; Denmark on the 15^th of June 2012. After Denmark, as the first country in the world, in 1989 had approved civil connections between same-sex couples ("registered partnerships"), the Parliament voted on the 7^th of June 2012 ,with a clear majority (85 votes to 24), for a law opening marriage to same-sex couples. Finally on the 12^th of April 2013 France kept its promise to legalize same-sex marriage, in combination with child adoption, made by the socialist President François Hollande during his election period.

Mexico and Brazil are in a similar situation like the US, where state by state are approving or disapproving individually. This reflects the following situation up-to-date:

In the following sub-regions or states of countries, marriage for same-sex couples has been opened:

United States: States with the Federal District (51 in total)
Massachusetts (May 17, 2004)
Connecticut (10 October 2008)
Iowa (April 27, 2009)
Vermont (1 September 2009)
New Hampshire (1 January 2010)
District of Columbia (3 March 2010)
New York (June 24, 2011)
Washington (6 December 2012)
Maine (29 December 2012)
Maryland (1 January 2013)
Indian tribes (for a total of 566 recognized tribes)
Coquille, Oregon (1 May 2009)
Suquamish, Washington (August 1, 2011)
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan (March 15, 2013),

Mexico (32 sub-regions in total)

Mexico City (4 March 2010)
Quintana Roo (1 June 2012)

Brazil (27 sub-regions in total)
Alagoas (7 December 2011)
Sergipe (15 July 2012)
Espírito Santo (15 August 2012)
Bahia (26 November 2012)
Brasília (Federal District) (1 December 2012)
Piauí (15 December 2012)
São Paulo (1st March 2013)
Ceará (March 15, 2013)
Paraná (26 March 2013),
Mato Grosso do Sul (April 2, 2013)

Asia is also seeing light on the horizon, with Nepal having shifted to a democracy and rewriting their entire constitution, same-sex marriage are sure to be a part of the new constitution. After the proclamation of the Republic in 2008, the Supreme Court of the country has decided to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. On 14 September 2010, the first same-sex marriage in the country between a British and an Indian was closed, although there was no legal basis for the marriage of same-sex partners, even for the wedding ceremony of foreigners. Appropriate legislation to open up the marriage was expected for the constitution, which should come into force after repeated moving end of May 2012, but was delayed because of the elections between mid-April and mid-May in 2013.

Israel is holding a unique role, by recognizing foreign same-sex married couples, yet not performing these unions for Israel Nationals.

And as of this writing, the news showed a new positive surprise; New Zealand legalized marriage equality today Wednesday the 17th of April 2013.

The 21^st century is already showing major changes, positively towards equality, not only for LGBT members, but for women and children as well. Influential people like President Barack Obama and François Hollande and leaders supporting the entire movement, let the law protect and give equal credence to all members of the society, be it a majority or minority, showing that both groups are valid and in fact, equally secured.

By Thomas Fleckner

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